Caveins and Concussions
by Santana2
Summary: Well, if he had to have a heart-to-heart, he supposed he could do worse than Robin. Even if the kid wasn't entirely consious at the moment . . . Little friendly bonding. T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Thought I'd try my hand at a little Superboy/Robin bonding/angst/oh-dear-someone's gonna-get-hurt scenario; granted it could be somewhat feeble. But I'll let you decide. This is not a slash, I don't write slash, this is purely friendship. Also, Artemis isn't in this one (sad, I know) I thought of it before she was on the show and didn't have the patience to try and write her in. (Artemis Crock, anyone else catch that, hmm)

**Disclaimer: **Someday, DC, _someday_ . . . (wanders off mumbling to herself)

* * *

It started when he saw Superman pat Robin on the shoulder and smile at the young boy.

Batman had come to give them a mission based in Metropolis and Superman was there to help with the briefing, looking awkward as heck, Superboy noted, standing in the same briefing room with his clone. He was pretty sure Bats had dragged his fellow hero there, if anything, just to remind him that Superboy wasn't going away, that he still existed.

Superboy appreciated Batman's effort, but he didn't want his sort-of father held at gunpoint, so to speak, just to come near him.

That aside, the mission was simple enough, guard a shipment (thankfully, no psycho, mimicking robots this time) of chemicals to STAR Labs.

"We're really just being safe," Superman said, "There's been someone sabotaging the deliveries for unknown reasons. Wrecking the vans, stealing; they're in need of more than the usual protection."

"And you won't be following as discretely this time," Batman cut in, "I want you split into two teams, one will be riding in and alongside the truck, the other will be waiting at the delivery point in the lab's basement garage. Aqualad, you can decide the teams. Do so quickly the truck leaves in a few hours."

Kaldur nodded and turned to his team as Batman and Superman walked a few feet away to talk about whatever it is adults talk about when they don't want kids in earshot.

"Wally and Megan," Kaldur glanced at them as he said their names, "You're with me, we'll stay with the truck," at this Wally grinned at being teamed up with Megan, "Superboy and Robin, we'll meet you in the garage. You should leave now and contact us if you see anything suspicious and we'll reroute."

Robin nodded and, smiling, turned to Superboy, "One sec, okay? I gotta ask Bats something." Superboy shrugged and the kid ran off towards the senior heroes. He was actually kind of glad he got Robin as a partner, he liked the boy. He wasn't nearly as irritating as Kid Flash, no matter how many strange words he threw out, and working with Miss Martian made him . . . nervous for some reason.

So, basically, he had been alright with working with Robin. Until he saw the kid talk to Superman, that is. Superboy had been listening to Kaldur spell out a few more details when he glanced back over at Robin.

He didn't hear what was said, despite his excellent hearing, since he wasn't paying attention, but whatever Robin had said to Superman, when he turned from talking to his own mentor, made the Man of Steel smile, even laugh a little. As if that wasn't enough, the man in blue actually reached out and ruffled the boy's ebony hair and patted his shoulder, muttering something in response, Robin grinning back up at him, like he would an uncle.

Superboy didn't really hear what Kaldur was saying as Robin walked back toward the group; he was too busy trying to calm the sudden, and to himself unexplainable, _rage_ he felt. Toward Robin, no less. The clone didn't even register the Bat's penetrating gaze on him.

Robin finally trotted back up to his partner, "Ready to go, Supes? We're taking the motorcycles . . ." his voice trailed away when he saw the strange look on Superboy's face, "You okay?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, his friendly smile fading.

Superboy realized what he was doing and forced the look off his face. This was Robin, his teammate and friend, why was he angry? "I'm fine," he lied, "Let's go or the truck will have arrived already."

* * *

The drive to the basement garage was quiet, and the quick search of said garage was quieter. Superboy simply didn't trust himself to speak; he was preoccupied with the scene back at Mt. Justice playing over and over in his head and the monster that seemed to be sitting in his chest clawing at his stomach. Robin kept throwing him looks, obviously curious about what had put his friend in a mood, but not enough to bring it up.

"I'll take a look over there," Superboy finally said, stalking farther into the garage. He didn't wait for Robin's answer, just walked over to the few other delivery vans still sitting, empty, in their places. They hadn't found any sign of sabotage, which was best, because Superboy was still rather distracted.

Why had it bothered him so much? He knew Robin was well acquainted with Superman, he was the longest running sidekick after all and Batman and Superman were both founding members of the JL. He guessed he just didn't realize _how_ well acquainted they were. But then why had he gotten so angry? Big deal, Robin's known Superman longer than he had, who didn't –

"Superboy! Get down!" Superboy broke from his thoughts at his teammate's frantic shout and turned to see Robin running full force toward him and then a deafening explosion knocked them both off their feet.

* * *

Immediately as he came to, well, as soon as he managed to remember what had happened, Superboy was thankful for super strength. Not only had it protected him from being severely injured, it allowed him to push several large chunks of cement and metal beams, that a few seconds ago had been the garage, off him. Unfortunately it did nothing to help with the dust clouding his vision and breathing or the headache.

He tried to shout through the coughing, "R - (cough) - Robin!" No answer. _Crap._ "Robin! Can you hear me?" _Obviously not._ He thought when, again, there was no answer. He pushed a few more scattered pieces of debris out of his way as he headed in the direction he'd seen Robin before the explosion.

"Come on. Where are you?" the clone muttered mostly to himself, the fear in his stomach growing with each step. Superboy started walking around a pile of rubble, "The Bat's gonna kill me if you end up –" He heard a soft groan right where his next step was going to land and he quickly looked down.

It was Robin, but Superboy wasn't as relieved as he thought he would be to find the boy. Robin was lying face down on the hard concrete floor, a gash in his head that went from his left eyebrow to his temple, which accounted for his being out cold still. Superboy tried not to panic as he immediately moved the only object that was still over the hacker, a metal beam that had been supporting the structure. It had both hurt and protected him it seemed, deflecting other debris from him, but had pinned his leg. It was still pretty lucky though.

Robin released a sharp gasp as the pressure came off his leg, and when Superboy looked down at the appendage it was sitting at a sickening angle.

"Robin," Superboy reached down and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Rob, wake up."

He sighed in relief when Robin stirred and the movement behind his mask indicated his eyes opening, "Mmnph, what happened?"

"Just don't move, okay? Your leg's . . . messed up," the clone said, trying not to panic the boy. If he really didn't remember what happened he could have a concussion.

"Yeah," Robin gasped, wincing, "I c-caught that on my own, thanks."

Superboy decided to ignore the irritation that rose up from the sarcasm in light of the circumstances, taking it as a blessing that Rob was coherent enough to use it, "Do you really not remember what happened?"

Robin, still lying on his stomach (Superboy was afraid to move him yet), replied hesitantly, "I remember . . . f-finding the bomb nex-next to the door," he let out a pained sigh, "we're trapped aren't we?" he asked.

Superboy honestly hadn't thought of that yet, "Uh . . . wait here."

"Not going anywhere," Robin mumbled as the clone ran to where the entrance had been . . . emphasis on _had. _The entrance where the truck would have driven in with the deliveries was demolished. It would take hours for the clone to dig them out by himself. Then he remembered another entrance, the elevators and staircase that led up to the labs.

He ran there, in a hurry to get back to Robin, but stopped abruptly when he nearly ran into another wall of fallen concrete and metal. He growled in frustration when he couldn't find a way around it, realizing whoever did this had set up a bomb by the only other entrance/exit as well.

He had just started back to Robin when he heard the said boy's strangled cry.

When he finally got back in view of the little hacker he saw that Robin had tried to turn himself over, but collapsed back on his stomach, breathing heavily and coughing.

"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" Superboy asked, more harshly than he meant to, as he knelt down by his partner, "I told you not to move."

"W-well, it was get-getting hard to b-breathe," Robin said breathlessly.

Superboy sighed and, again, did his best to swallow his frustration, "Then let me help you. This is going to hurt enough without you trying to do it on your own." Robin nodded and Superboy knelt and managed to get him rolled over, the smaller boy's face twisted with pain the whole time, but he was breathing better now.

There was just one more problem, "I'm going to have to reset your leg," Superboy said. He was pretty sure a human leg wasn't supposed to bend in that particular spot.

"Just get it over with," Robin groaned. Superboy did as he was told and wrapped his hands around the break. When he felt the bone set into place he also heard Robin shout and punch him in the arm – hard.

"OW! What was that for?" the clone glared at the kid. Little brat had a good arm.

"Sorry, I just had to hit something and you were closest," Robin said through clenched teeth, "I feel really sick," he said more quietly.

"Then it's definitely a concussion," Superboy replied, eyeing the cut that was still seeping blood down his partner's face, and sat down next to him on the cold floor, "the entrances are blocked, by the way, both of them," he continued, pulling off his jacket, folding it up and placing it behind Robin's head.

The hacker smiled at his gesture, weakly, then frowning as he stated, "They either knew we were here, or meant for it to be the shipment that got buried," Robin grimaced and reached for the communicator in his belt, flipping it open, "no reception to call the others either," he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Don't fall asleep!" Superboy said suddenly, startling the smaller boy, making him jump and wince, "You could go into a coma or something . . ." he trailed off when he realized Robin smiling at him, amused, "What?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a myth, Supes, but if it makes you feel better, I'll stay awake, okay?" Robin replied, still smirking.

Superboy didn't really like being patronized, but he wasn't taking any chances, "Sure," there was a pause and he spoke again, "So, we just wait?"

"They'll figure it out eventually."

Superboy huffed and tore a strip of cloth off his shirt.

"What's that for?" Robin asked absently.

"Your head," the other replied and proceeded to, gently as possible, tie the makeshift bandage around Robin's head. The kid was unnaturally pail, or maybe it was just the lighting . . .

"Why is it that nearly every time we go on a mission your shirt gets ripped?" Robin suddenly asked, and the clone noticed how the boy was sounding a little ditsy, slurring his words.

_Must be the head trauma_, Superboy thought before mumbling, "No idea."

It was quiet a few moments. Then out of the blue again Robin asked, "You mad at me?"

It took a second for Superboy to register the question, "Uh . . . no . . . why?"

Robin studied him for a moment and said, "You've been giving me the cold shoulder since we left and back at the mountain you looked really ticked about something . . ."

"Oh, that," Superboy cut in. The boy couldn't remember an explosion, but he could remember that? He'd completely forgotten his unreasonable anger. _Great_, he thought, _now I have guilt, _"That . . . wasn't you, exactly . . . it was nothing, just forget it okay?" the clone said aloud. He didn't want to get into this with Robin, it was so illogical, and Rob was all about logic.

"If you don't want me to fall asleep, you gotta talk to me," Robin responded sleepily, tapping Superboy's knee with his elbow. At least he wasn't gasping anymore, "Come on. What'd I do –?"

He was cut off by Superboy's angry retort, "Just drop it, will you?" The vision of Superman smiling down at the Bat's protégé had flashed in front of his eyes again as Robin pried. It only helped to renew his anger.

He knew he'd gone too far when the half-conscious Robin shrank away from him, suddenly looking very uncomfortable and alert. He'd startled the kid into defense.

"I'm not angry with you," Superboy said quickly, attempting to make his comrade relax.

"Could have fooled me," Robin said, still eyeing him warily.

Superboy backtracked, "Okay, I was mad at you . . . sort of . . . I don't . . . it's hard to explain," he ran a hand through his hair, really wishing he could just hit something. Hitting was much easier for him than 'talking things out' as Megan put it.

He looked back down at Robin, who had at least relaxed back against his jacket but was still giving him a worried frown. As Superboy stared an idea started to form in his head, just barely there, an answer to why he was angry at the little hacker. It was frustratingly slow coming.

"Dude, now you're just freakin' me out," Robin said, groggy again, "What are you staring at?"

"He talks to you," the clone said quietly, barely acknowledging Robin's concerned look.

"Who . . . ?" the boy looked seriously perplexed and frustrated now, trying to follow the conversation in a pained and lethargic state, "Look, no offense, but my head and leg really hurt, I feel like I'm gonna hurl and you're not making any – " He paused, murmured, "Crap," rolled away from Superboy and, as if on cue, threw-up everything in his stomach.

The clone was at his side in seconds, supporting his shoulders all the while. Finally, Robin took a shaky breath and turned back, his arm over his mouth. He had disturbed his leg, but it was still set, thankfully. Superboy noticed Robin's trembling, however.

"Feel better?" Superboy asked.

"Not really," the hacker croaked miserably, "Now explain what you were muttering about."

Superboy sighed, "Not if it was irritating you . . ."

"The headache and shooting pain in my leg are irritating me way more. It'll help take my mind off of it," Robin interrupted.

The clone resisted the urge to palm his forehead and did his best to pick up where he left off, if only to get Rob off his back about it. Never start something with a Bat that you're unwilling to finish, "He . . . talks to you," he repeated.

"You said that already," Superboy could practically hear the eyes rolling behind Robin's mask, "And I know a lot of 'he's. Little more specific?"

Superboy paused, "Superman," he stated, rather surprised at the misery in his own voice.

Rob gave him a quizzical look, "Sup – Oh," realization replaced confusion, "I see," he cocked his head in that peculiar way he did and studied Superboy, "You got jealous."

Superboy started sputtering, "What – that's just – I am not . . ." he stopped, seeing Robin give him a really weird look, somewhere between amusement and pity. He could smack the little guy for laughing at his expense and he truly hated pity. He sighed, too tired to be angry anymore, especially at Robin. Plus, not that he would admit it if his life depended on it, but his friend was right.

Instead he blurted out, "Why can't he just _talk_ to me?" He almost laughed, staring across the destroyed garage, "He can't even seem to look at me without cringing," he looked back down at Robin, waiting for . . . he didn't know. An answer, some great revelation maybe?

The acrobat gave him a sleepy smile, having listened to the short rant quietly, and said slowly, as if choosing his words very carefully, "You know, back when I first met Batman, I didn't think he liked me very much either."

Superboy didn't say anything. It wasn't often Robin talked about Batman, unless it was to repeat another of the man's (many) rules.

When his friend said nothing, Robin continued, "He hardly talked to me, barely looked at me . . . and I had no idea why. It turned out he had a good reason, but it still hurt," he paused and looked up at Superboy, who was still trying to see where his friend was going with this, "He came around," Robin finished simply, shrugging.

Superboy sat thinking for a moment before saying, "So, you're saying you think Superman will come around?"

Robin just shrugged again (wincing) and said, "I'm saying Superman's being a jerk . . . actually, he's being worse than a jerk, but I'm not allowed to use that word. But, just so you know, I've known him a long time, and it's really not like him. So, yes, I do think he'll come around."

He offered Superboy a groggy smile and Superboy returned it, reaching out to readjust the make-shift bandage on the younger's head. The cut had stopped bleeding at least.

When he leaned back to his former position, he said, "So, Rob, does that mean the Bat's not actually your – " He stopped when he looked back down at his friend. Eyes closed, breathing deep.

"Hope that coma thing really is a myth," he said to no one in particular, just as he heard commotion where the garage door supposedly still was. "Right on time," he said, glancing at his partner. He leaned over and picked him up, gently as possible, so as not to wake him, and carried him to the spot where the others would most likely come through.

Despite everything, he really was glad he got Robin as his partner.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I just shoved two characters into a cramped situation where they had to talk things out. I couldn't resist. And like every show ever has never done it . . . but I digress.

This turned out a thousand times longer than I thought it would. And, yeah, I did think of breaking it into chapters, but I'm terrible about updating, so it's just a really long one-shot.

I'm good with humorous type fluff, not so much the serious type bonding sort of thing, so, please let me know if I should never do this again.

Thanks for reading. I'll shut up now . . .


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I didn't originally plan on expanding on this, but a couple of reviewers put the idea in my head so I thought I'd give it a shot.

**Disclaimer**: Ha, no . . .

* * *

Kaldur helped him, and the still unconscious Robin in his arms, through the small hole the rest of the team had managed to make through the top of the rock pile blocking the door. Superboy was uncomfortably aware of how much he had to shift Robin, and his broken leg, to get through the opening.

As soon as he was on solid ground again, his partner still held carefully in his arms, Kid Flash, predictably and suddenly, appeared in front of Superboy with a rush of air and a worried expression. Right after him Superboy spotted Batman and none other than the Man of Steel himself. Superboy barely registered the tiny prickled of annoyance when he saw how Superman looked at the thirteen year old in his arms, the concern there, and the unidentifiable look that fell on his clone.

"Dude, what _happened_?" KF asked, a little frantic, staring down at his best friend.

"He'll be fine," Superboy said, with a hint of impatience. He wanted to get Robin some medical attention before he had to explain all that had happened. Batman seemed to have the same idea as him as he began to walk towards the clone.

"He's _unconscious_," Kid continued as Superboy walked past him.

"He'll be _fine_," The clone repeated now standing in front of the Bat, Superman close behind. Megan watched over KF's shoulder and Kaldur began to slide down from his perch on the debris pile, as Superboy shifted his package into Batman's arms, "Watch his leg," he told the senior hero, "and he has a concussion." Batman's only response was a curt nod.

A small noise escaped Robin when he was shifted. Then, as if he already knew who was holding him, without opening his eyes, reached up and grasped the black and yellow bat symbol and buried his face in his mentor's shoulder, "Hurts," he muttered, only loud enough for Bats and the two Supers, with their excellent ears to hear. Again Batman didn't say anything, just held the boy tighter to him.

The Bat turned, about to hurry Robin back to the mountain's medical bay, when Superman stopped him, "I can get him there faster," he said calmly, and when the other looked ready to argue he continued, "Come on, you know I'll take good care of him," he smiled tentatively at Batman's firm scowl. Finally, common sense won out with the Dark Knight and Robin was once again passed. Superman had to pause and wait for Batman to pry his protégé's fingers from his shirt.

Soon enough Superman had flown off, back to Mt. Justice and the medical bay, leaving whoever was left to find transportation for themselves.

* * *

Back at the mountain, for whatever reason that even he couldn't explain, Superboy sat outside the medical bay, where Robin was being taken care of.

The clone supposed he was just worried and had nothing better to do than sit outside his friend's room. Plus, that whole coma thing still had him nervous, myth or not. The only reason Wally wasn't waiting right next to him was that he, Aqualad, and Miss Martian were still responsible for seeing the delivery truck safely to its new destination.

Superboy and Batman had met Superman in the medical bay, and the Bat immediately went to work, administering pain relievers doing whatever scans were necessary. Superman stayed but the younger Super had stepped out, not wanting to get in the way. He knew some first aid from Cadmus but not enough to measure doses or anything. He noted in the back of his mind to study up on that.

Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of right now was how tired he was. Even the tiny chairs placed outside the room weren't uncomfortable enough to keep him from dozing off now and again . . .

"You can go rest in your room if you want," a deep voice suddenly right next to him nearly made him fall out of the chair.

Regaining his balance and looking up he saw Superman, awkward half-smile and all, standing over him. The twinge of annoyance he felt was not directed toward the man in front of him, though, but at himself for letting himself be caught off guard.

He shook it off and tried to sound alert, "I just wanted to make sure Robin –"

"He'll be fine," Batman echoed Superboy's earlier prediction while coming out of the automatic bay doors, "He needed a few stitches in his head, and the leg was a clean break so it'll heal just fine, but it will take a while, meaning no missions any time soon," he nodded from Superboy to the door, "You can go in and see him if you want, just don't wake him up, he needs to sleep it off, and then I'll be taking him back to Gotham till he's better," the Bat began to walk briskly down the hall to prepare to take Robin home.

Superboy nodded and stood, about to walk into the sterile room, when he heard the Bat turn and say, "Oh, and Superboy?" the addressed boy turned to look at the Dark Knight as he finished simply, "Thank you," and continued out of sight down the hall.

Superman had stood quietly aside for all of this, and a somewhat stunned Superboy watched as he too began to follow the Bat down the hall.

But just as the clone was about to walk through the doors, he was startled yet again by Superman's voice, "You did well," it said uncertainly.

Superboy stared. He had just gotten a complement from not only the Bat, but the man he thought would rather ignore his existence entirely.

Before he could find his own voice, Superman seemed unable to take the currently awkward silence and turned continued down the hall.

It took Superboy a few minutes to remember what he had been about to do. _Oh, right_, he reminded himself and pushed the rest of the way through the medical bay doors.

Seeing Robin was a bit a shock. There were wires in his arm and where one leg should have been there was a huge lump of a cast. His head was wrapped in stark white bandages, chest rising and falling peacefully.

The larger boy went and sat down beside his injured teammate. As he thought over what had just happened, he suddenly really wished Robin were awake. He wasn't positive but he thought he was starting to understand why Megan always ran in to tell him what had happened to her that day. He didn't always find it interesting, but she felt the need to share the "exciting" moments with him (since he was usually the only person in the mountain). He didn't really want to tell Robin every detail (like Megan did) just that . . .

"I think you were right," Superboy whispered, leaning down closer to the sleeping boy's ear. Maybe it didn't matter whether Robin could hear him or not just that it was said out loud, "I think he'll come around." And Superboy smiled to himself, Robin apparently oblivious to the world.

Superboy sighed and stood, there wasn't really anything he could do here. He started walking to the door to his wonderful bed when he heard a gentle, "Yeah, I know," from the tiny boy lying in bed behind him.

He didn't even turn around, just smiled again and left Robin to rest.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, this may have turned into more a Superman/Superboy thing than Superboy/Robin. And they seriously need to give Superboy a real name already; I'm getting tired of typing one name. Oh, and I didn't really proofread as well as I should have so feel free to point out mistakes and shame me into doing it right.

Btw, did anyone else notice when the Tim D. screw-up happened yesterday the amount of Robin stories went up? Hehe.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: I suppose this is just going to turn into a series of one-shots for Superboy and Robin. It was just supposed to be the first chapter and that's it, b/c I have no actual story-line for a chapter story, but then I just got some more ideas that wouldn't stand alone.

So, basically, these are all one-shots that are sort of connected, not a full chapter story. Just wanted to make that clear.

**Disclaimer**: Yeah, can't even really take credit for the idea on this one, and when DC found out it put me out of the running on owning the whole enchilada. Darn Mexican food.

* * *

Robin had been back to full training for a week, and he was doing well. His injuries were completely healed and Batman had given him permission for combat practice.

Everyone could tell the little hacker was ecstatic to be anywhere but bed. He bounced all over the training room as he warmed up, cackling his signature cackle, and his team, especially Wally, was quite happy to see him up and about.

Well, everyone except for Superboy that is.

Oh, he was happy Robin was okay, he was exceedingly thankful for that. However he was not so happy with how soon Batman had allowed him back into combat. Well, combat raining right now, but still.

After the cave in incident, Superboy supposed he just became hyper-aware of the little bird, and how appropriate Robin's name suddenly seemed.

He was just like a little bird in Superboy's opinion, and not just in the way he flitted about the training room performing maneuvers others could only dream of. Robin was tiny, smaller than any of them. And carrying him out of the cave that day, Superboy noticed how light the boy was, like he hardly weighed anything. Even by super-strength standards it seemed abnormal.

Just as much debris had fallen on Superboy during that explosion as Robin, but the former had had his super-strength to back him up on that one and he came out with a headache. Robin came out with a concussion and a broken leg. Superboy could still see the faint white scar on the kid's temple.

So, when Kid Flash jumped onto the training floor and yelled to Robin, "Hey, spar with me real quick before Black Canary gets here, I wanna make sure she doesn't hand it to me again," Superboy became a little on edge.

Robin sprang to the lit area, saying, "And how do you know I won't hand it to you?"

Wally smiled and got into position, "Watch yourself, I've been working on this. You're about to get beat at your own game, my friend."

At that Robin leapt at the speedster. It was agreed that while working with hand-to-hand combat no powers would be used. Not only was it meant to make the better fighters but the Justice League could recount more than a few time something happened where their powers were rendered useless and a little fight skill made a big difference.

Thus, when Robin leapt at him, Kid Flash used none of his supernatural speed to dodge him. That still didn't help Superboy's nerves. Wally was naturally fast anyway, and Robin had just gotten over some serious injuries, and it didn't look like they were going to go easy on each other.

Then it happened.

Robin twisted in midair, away from Wally's fist that had almost connected with the other's jaw. Wally never touched him, but when Robin landed a few feet from his friend he crumpled and grabbed the leg he'd landed on, the one he'd broken.

Before anyone could think, before Kid Flash could even move, Superboy had placed himself between the speedster and Robin, and had Wally shoved against the wall by the front of his uniform.

Kaldur and Megan stood by in frozen shock as Superboy growled, "_What _were you thinking?"

He wasn't hurting Wally, but it didn't stop the slight panic in the smaller boy's voice, "W-what are you doing?"

Kaldur was able to shake off his initial shock first, "Superboy, put him down. What's gotten into you?"

But Superboy was still watching the speedster he had pinned to the wall, "You have to be careful with him," he jerked his head towards where Robin was slowly getting up, watching the scene, wide-eyed, "Don't you know that by now?" he asked, close to yelling.

It finally seemed to click with Wally and he seemed to be about to form a careful response when –

"Superboy?" the clone felt a small, gloved hand on the arm he was holding Wally with. Only then did he realize that the speedster was a few inches off the floor.

He looked down at none other than Robin's somewhat frightened face as he said, "I-I'm okay. It was my own fault anyway," he paused and glanced at the red-head still dangling in Superboy's grasp and currently mimicking a gaping fish, "Could you . . . put him down now?"

Grudgingly, Superboy did as he was asked, not looking away from Robin.

As soon as his feet hit the floor, in a blink Wally was across the room, crouched behind Megan, who was still frozen, not entirely sure what to do. Kaldur was at a loss as well.

Superboy was still looking at the youngest of the team, whose hand had dropped with his, and said angrily, "You shouldn't be back so soon. You're going to get hurt again . . ."

"Oh, stop it will you?" Robin interrupted forcefully. He had an odd look on his face, something between hurt and amused, "I can see where this is going and under no circumstances are you to _ever_ think what you are thinking again," Robin folded his arms in front of him and seemed to being doing his best to imitate his mentor, and pulling it off quite well, "Understand, blockhead?"

Robin, and probably Megan but she was too nice, was the only person who could ever seem to get away with calling Superboy names. There was a rather long pause, in which Robin and Superboy glared at each other, and the others stood back and watched, ready to intervene if need be. Unnoticed by any of them, Black Canary walked in, took in the situation and hostile air about her and opened her mouth to ask what was going on. She never got the chance.

Superboy, finally, nodded stiffly and Robin broke into a huge grin, surprising everyone in the room, especially the boy he'd just got finished "scolding".

"Good," the little hacker said cheerfully, spun around (more carefully on his stiff leg), and practically bounced back up to the training platform, "because I'm taking _you_ next and we can't have any of this 'careful' insanity to ruin my good mood."

Everyone but Robin jumped when Black Canary said, "Alright, have you worked this out on your own so that I can do my job?"

Robin giggled. Wally, Megan, and Kaldur looked at each other and shrugged. Superboy just walked up to Robin on the platform saying, "Yes, we're ready."

Black Canary would never truly understand teenagers.

* * *

**A/N**: I just wanted to try my hand at overly protective Superboy. So cute.

BTW! I caught something on that last episode (Bereft). It may be nothing but it sounded like something and I'm wondering if anybody has any idea what it could mean. When Robin was fighting the soldier's alone, after he woke up with no memory, one of the soldiers said "Her Majesty wants him alive" referring to Queen Bee. I can't figure out if they meant just Robin or the whole team. I was just wondering if anyone had any background connection there or if you think it's the show setting up for something (and if they are I'm excited!) I just want some opinions.

Thanks for reading and please review (and if you read that forever long A/N, bless you).


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: So here's a little love for Miss Martian, even though I have no idea when her birthday is, and it's still Superboy/Robin friendship. And I just felt like writing something for this little series. Hopefully the next installment will be more epic. Right now just fluff.

But, you know, kittens are pretty epic, too.

**Disclaimer**: Do I have to say it? It's so depressing . . .

* * *

This was the second time he'd been partnered with Robin and his mind was on something other than scouting out the East side of the building. Thankfully, it was only routine checking for any lagging crooks or what-have-you.

They were both in an alleyway between two buildings, just finishing up their patrol. Robin was on the communicator giving Kaldur the all-clear, time to pack-up and head back to the mountain.

Superboy's mind wandered to his other problem while Robin talked. His problem this time had nothing to do with the mission, or even Superman for once. He was currently puzzling over certain customs people seemed very keen on in this world he more-or-less landed in.

He just didn't understand most of them.

For example, what did a rabbit have to do with the Easter holiday?

Why did people actually want some strange obese man to break into their house at Christmas?

And most importantly why did humans feel the need to give each other gifts on the anniversary of their births?

Superboy really saw no point to it. Was being born naturally such a great accomplishment? Maybe it was, it's not like he would really know.

"Superboy? Hello!" Superboy's head snapped around to look at Robin's irritated face as he continued, "Dude, what is up with you today?"

"Nothing," Superboy said quickly, "I was just . . ." he paused and sighed, "Nothing. Let's just get out of here." He started walking back up the alleyway, avoiding all the clutter and garbage that surrounded them.

"Oh, come _on_," Robin trotted beside him, "You've been moping around more than usual for a week, what's wrong?"

Superboy didn't answer. This whole thing was so stupid, no way was he asking Robin about . . .

Then again, he wasn't getting anywhere on his own with this. And Robin had to be more experienced in customs such as this, strange as they were to Superboy.

The clone sighed again; it was worth a shot.

"It's M'gann's birthday tomorrow," Superboy said slowly, pausing in the alley to look at the smaller boy.

Robin frowned, "Yeah, I know," then he shook his head, "Kid Flash won't let me forget. He dragged me through the mall for six hours last weekend to find her 'the perfect' gift."

"Oh," Superboy muttered, "and what did he get her?"

Robin snorted, "A cookbook. That was his second choice after I talked him out of the jewelry."

Superboy nodded, "And you got her . . .?"

"Well, she likes to read, so I figured the safest thing was a Jane Austen book. Sort of seemed her style," Robin shrugged, "What'd you get . . ." then he caught the look on Superboy's face, "Oh, for the love of – you haven't gotten anything yet?"

Superboy glared at the little bird for a moment before looking away down the brighter part of the alley, "No," he said gruffly before he blurted, "What is the _point_ anyway. Not only would I have no idea where to even _start_ looking for a gift for anyone, much less Megan," as he went on with his mini-rant he was vaguely aware of Robin moving beside him, but paid no mind, "Everything she could possibly need in life is back at the cave . . ." He stopped when he realized Robin was no longer standing next to him, but had swept back down the alley a few feet and rummaging through the garbage, "What are you doing?"

"Saving your tail, Supes," Robin said standing up, grappling with something in his hands. Superboy could only stare as Robin suddenly held up a . . . something right in Superboy's face and exclaimed, "This is _perfect_."

Superboy stared at the squirming, mewling thing in Robin's hands, "It's . . . a rat?"

Robin's grin turned to an exasperated frown as he pulled the furry little animal more securely to his chest, "It's a _kitten_, genius. And it's your birthday gift to Megan."

"Ummm," was all the clone could say. He was pretty sure that if it was inappropriate for Wally to get Megan jewelry, it would be inappropriate for him to get this kitten anywhere near Megan's meticulously clean kitchen. First off, he honestly couldn't tell what color it was, due to it being so covered in dirt and other various debris. He could tell, however, that it had one slightly torn ear, and through all that matted fur he was sure it would be a rather skinny thing.

Robin sensed his doubt and said encouragingly, "Oh, he's not that bad," he held the now silent and rather benign kitten up to inspect it more closely, "We'll get him back to the mountain give him a bath, tie a bow around his neck and he'll be a hit. Plus, you know how Meg loves taking care of stuff, just tell her you found him and thought she'd like him." Robin held the little animal up for Superboy to hold.

Superboy took it, ever so carefully, as the kitten was so tiny, and looked at it skeptically. It blinked at him with its big, blue eyes and yawned. As he held it to his chest as he'd seen Robin do, the little thing curled up against the Superman symbol on his shirt and purred.

"See," Robin said triumphantly, "He already likes you."

The communicator at his side crackled as Kaldur's voice came through, "Robin, where are you two? I thought you were on your way back to the bio-ship."

"Coming. Almost there," Robin responded, and closed his communicator and turned to Superboy, who was still holding the sleeping kitten, "Quick, wrap him in your jacket so Megan doesn't see."

* * *

It is amazingly easy to smuggle kittens into Mt. Justice, Superboy found. Granted every time the kitten squirmed or made a noise under the clone's jacket, Robin would try to draw attention away from it by coughing or asking Megan something, earning him several odd looks from Wally.

Thankfully, the kitten never tried too hard to escape, and Superboy managed to smuggle it into his room, where Robin met him about ten minutes later. They actually managed to give the thing a bath, although after about three seconds into that Superboy found out that cats do not like baths. At all.

But, overall, Robin was right. The kitten was kind of cute when they were finished drying it. It turned out to be totally black, except for one white foot. It had rather longer than average hair, which covered the tear in its ear nicely. Superboy had no idea where he got it, but Robin managed to find a blue ribbon and a box to put it in the next day.

Strangely enough, after Robin went home and the newly polished kitten was fed and curled up in the wrapped box he'd be presenting it in tomorrow, Superboy was actually a little excited.

Finally, Megan's party came, along with the rest of the team, who despite Megan's request not to make a big deal, brought whatever party essentials they deemed necessary, with Wally and Robin walking in with the cake.

Megan unwrapped her gifts last, starting with the latest addition to the team's present. Artemis had only been with them a month, but being the only other girl on the team, she was more than happy to help with Megan's birthday. She gave Megan a scarf, saying that it was essential to every wardrobe.

Kaldur gave her a pretty little mermaid figurine he'd gotten on his last trip to Atlantis. Megan "oohed" and "ahed" over all her gifts, which at least gave Superboy the comfort of knowing if she hated his, she was too nice to say it in front of anyone.

When she began opening Robin's present, Superboy excused himself and went back to his room. Robin shot him thumbs up.

As he walked out he heard Wally hiss, "You didn't help him with his gift did you? Is that why you wouldn't let me get jewelry?"

The kitten was still in the box, due to the lack of any other holding method, and was not happy about staying in it one more minute.

"_Mrow_," it protested when Superboy tied the bow around its neck, like Robin had shown him.

"Just behave," Superboy whispered and placed the lid on the colorful box.

When he walked back in Megan had unwrapped Wally's cookbook, "Oh, thanks Wally."

"No prob, beautiful," Wally answered, around a mouth full of his fifth piece of cake, as Superboy sat down next to him on the couch. Artemis shot Wally a glare.

Before Artemis could say something and start another fight with her favorite red-head, Robin spoke up, "And last but not least," he nodded to Superboy.

"Ah," Superboy looked down at the green striped box in his hands skeptically, finally handed it to Megan and said ever so gracefully, "Um, here. Er, happy birthday."

Megan smiled kindly at him, and took the present . . . which immediately jolted in her hands.

"Eep!" Megan almost dropped it, making Robin have to cover a snicker and lean over the back of the couch further. Kaldur glanced at Superboy from his place leaning on the wall, like he might have given Megan a radioactive bomb or something. Artemis and Wally actually stopped glaring at each other across Megan to stare at the box.

The package now sitting in her lap, still rustling, Megan carefully slid only part of the lid up and leaned forward so she could peek in. As soon as it felt fresh air the kitten stuck his head out of the opening, big, blue eyes meeting Megan's brown and staring.

Megan was quiet for a moment as she simply stared at the little animal.

The kitten got tired of the awkward silence first, "_Mrow?_"

At this Megan squealed again. Thankfully the squeal that Superboy had come to know after several experiences was a "happy" squeal, not the "danger" squeal.

Megan tipped the lid off and picked up the kitten and hugged it to her chest, "He's so _cute_!" Then she caught Superboy off guard reaching over Wally and hugged the clone, "This is the sweetest thing ever Superboy, thank you."

Wally glared at the still reeling Superboy as Megan leaned back to her place in the couch to give Artemis a better look.

While the girls coddled the kitten Robin leaned forward and whispered, "Told you so."

Superboy raised an eyebrow at Megan rubbing the kitten's head as it purred, "Guess so."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm such a dork. Honestly, I just wanted to do something with a kitten.

Also, if any of you want to give me some ideas for this, feel free. I'm running out of ideas but I still like this friendship. So, please, don't be shy. Oh, and anyone notice how I finally dropped Artemis into this. Nice, huh? Please let me know if it was too bad

Thanks for reading, hope I made you smile.

P.S. Wanted to mention this blog by user Flowersun. The link is .com. It's pretty cool, she posts a bunch of YJ art and info (including fanfic stories!) so check it out, it's got some good stuff there.


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